A Level: English Language/Literature

This course is particularly suitable if you are interested in studying linguistics or Literature at university and are interested in a career in related areas such as speech therapy or journalism. The course contains some very independent units which give students academic confidence and allows them to prepare for university style learning

This course is particularly suitable if you are interested in studying linguistics or Literature at university and are interested in a career in related areas such as speech therapy or journalism. The course contains some very independent units which give students academic confidence and allows them to prepare for university style learning.

Paper 1

• Written exam: 3 hours

• Section A is closed book, Sections B and C are open book

• 100 marks • 40% of A level

Questions

Section A: Remembered Places

One compulsory question on the AQA Anthology: Paris (40 marks)

Section B: Imagined Worlds

One question from a choice of two on prose set text (35 marks)

Section C: Poetic Voices

One question from a choice of two on poetry set text (25 marks)

Texts studied are the AQA anthology: Paris and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones and a range of poetry including Seamus Heaney and Carol Ann Duffy

Paper 2

• Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes

• Open book

• 100 marks • 40% of A Level

Section A – Writing about Society

• One piece of re-creative writing using set text (25 marks)

• Critical commentary (30 marks)

Section B – Dramatic Encounters

One question from a choice of two on drama set text (45 marks)

Texts include Shakespeare’s Othello or Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire and F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby or Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

Paper 1: Telling Stories- Three hour examination, 40% of A Level

Paper 2: Exploring Conflict – Two and a half hour exam, 40% of A Level

Non-exam assessment: Making Connections – 3000 word investigation, 20% of A Level

6 grade 5s (or equivalent), including at least a grade 5 in English Language or Literature.

5 in the relevant subject if taken.

5 in English Language is recommended.

This A Level differs from those focused primarily on literature by extending its coverage beyond literature to explore differences and similarities between literary texts and others; it differs from those primarily focused on language by bringing the nature of literary discourse into sharper view. The specification offers unique opportunities to consider issues of ‘literariness’ and ‘literalness’.

This specification offers opportunities for students to develop their subject expertise by engaging creatively, critically and independently with a wide range of texts. Using literary and linguistic concepts and methods, students analyse literary and non-literary texts in a range of modes and genres, in the process gaining insights into the nature of different discourses and ideas about creativity. Students develop skills as producers and interpreters of language by creating texts themselves and critically reflecting on their own processes of production. This an exam for those who love, and have always loved reading.